


Back into your arms

by samariumwriting



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Fluff, M/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samariumwriting/pseuds/samariumwriting
Summary: In 1190, Felix comforts Dimitri over his fears about their souls being parted in another life.830 years later, Felix moves into Garreg Mach University and encounters someone he's never met before with an undeniably familiar face.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 11
Kudos: 44
Collections: 2020 Dimilix Exchange





	Back into your arms

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ostodvandi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ostodvandi/gifts).



> Catch me absolutely losing it when I got my assignment only to discover I got Paulo, who I talk to Literally every day. Ty for the amazing year of friendship my dude and I hope you like this fic <3
> 
> There's only one very brief non-explicit reference to it but it's prob worth mentioning that Felix is written here as trans! He's also ~implied autistic~ but I didn't think either were significant enough to tag

"Felix," Dimitri said. Felix looked up from his book, his eyes meeting Dimitri's. His voice was careful, hesitant, and it made Felix a little wary; he didn't often sound like that when they were alone. "Have you ever heard of the concept of reincarnation?"

He paused for a moment, turning it over in his head. "It's an interesting idea," Felix answered. An everlasting soul... someone who never died. Or perhaps no one ever truly died - it depended on the theorist. "Why, do you subscribe to it particularly?"

Dimitri pursed his lips. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "Sometimes I like the idea that perhaps this isn't everything we have. That maybe, some day, I will live a life with less hardship than this one."

Felix frowned, placing his bookmark between the pages and setting it aside. "I don't think this life is too bad," he said. Carefully, he offered Dimitri a small smile. "At least not now."

Dimitri hummed and nodded. "I suppose.”

"What's making you hesitate?"

"Reincarnation... if it truly exists, do you think people would meet the same people over and over? Would souls be intertwined enough to stick together through even death?" Dimitri’s face was carefully composed, but his tone betrayed something more.

Felix shook his head. "If that were the case, things would happen over and over again in exactly the same way, or at least in similar ways. History would work in cycles, and people would be stuck in some kind of loop."

Silence, for a moment. Nothing but the faint sound of the fireplace, the last few sparks sputtering in the grate at this hour.

"I do not think I would be able to bear eternity without you at my side." Dimitri said it quietly, but Felix didn't miss it. How could he?

Dimitri looked genuinely worried now, and Felix... he was at a loss for words, as always. How did he assuage a fear of something entirely unknowable?

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and reached under their shared blankets to find Dimitri's clenched fists. "You won't have to," he promised. “I’ll be there.”

* * *

Garreg Mach University was huge, and Felix barely even entered the damn place before he was sick of it. Sick of the stairs and sick of the heat that prickled at his skin, so unlike Faerghus' weak sunlight.

He tired of listening to his father prattle along about directions, making friends, and how proud of Felix he was. The noise buzzed in his ears, filling his head with sand.

The layout of the university didn't help. Felix must have seen the place a hundred times online - pictures, maps, descriptions of different landmarks on the campus. And yet, moving around, he felt wrong. Like there was something unexpected here, something his head couldn't quite wrap itself around.

It wasn't how he wanted to start his year. He'd known to expect a few problems, but he was fast becoming more overwhelmed than he anticipated. As every sense assaulted him, he could feel his hand tightening around the handle of his suitcase; he wasn't going to be able to talk to anyone like a normal human being when he was like this.

And still, his father's smile got wider when he followed the directions to the accommodation block. "Ah, Felix, look!" he said, the heavy bags in his hands not preventing him from gesturing with his elbow. "You really will be living in such an historical place. Why, it just reminds me how worth it encouraging you in school was, and..."

Felix did his best to tune his father's words out. He didn't want to hear a single second more of it; he knew where it would go. It would go to pride, and then regrets, and then Glenn, and then it would devolve into an argument Felix couldn't sidestep no matter how he tried. Better not to listen at all.

Better, perhaps, to focus on the trial ahead of him. Because, standing in the way of completing the gauntlet that was his move-in day, there were several people loitering in the hallway between him and his room. Typical; he should have moved in before the required date, just so he could avoid all of this nonsense.

Fortunately, the girl with bright pink hair didn't approach him, and the boy wearing a bright tank top backed down when Felix shot him a glare. He made it almost all the way up to his room (which, typically, was at the end of the hallway) without anyone so much as approaching him, and Felix very nearly let out a sigh of relief.

His relief came too early, though. Just as he ascended the last set of stairs, a shadow appeared above him. When he looked up, he was met with a nearly blinding smile on the face of a decidedly earnest looking young man.

He looked... familiar, somehow. Felix blinked once, trying to work out where he might know him from - and, more importantly, how rude it would be if he forgot his name - but nothing surfaced. A nameless, familiar stranger, smiling at him like Felix just made his entire day.

"Hello!" the man said, his smile widening even as Felix found himself unable to return a greeting. Somehow, this feeling of familiarity had knocked him completely off centre. "Would you like a hand? Those bags look heavy."

Felix wanted to refuse, telling him that whatever kind of weak girl he'd assumed him to be, he wasn't. Instead, for some reason he couldn't comprehend, he nodded, letting the man take one of the bags from his arm. He set off down the remaining length of the hall almost immediately.

"Oh, my apologies, I didn't even introduce myself!" he said, shifting the bag on his shoulders. "My name is Dimitri. I arrived a few days ago, and- oh, I'm sorry, I might have been a little forward, it's just that I was getting a little lonely settling in here by myself! But I'm glad you're here now."

The way he said it, it felt more like he was saying he was glad to see Felix  _ specifically,  _ rather than glad to see other people arrive in general. Felix didn't quite know how to feel about the warmth those words sparked in his chest. Instead, he looked down at the key in his hand and up at the rooms, focusing on the numbers. "This one is mine," he said, stopping in front of the room third from the end of the row.

"That's right next to mine!" Dimitri said, sounding unreasonably happy about it all as Felix opened the bedroom door and they dumped the bags inside.

"Huh." There was no reason for Felix to be surprised or unsurprised by it - Dimitri came from further back in the hall, and Felix's room was near the end. And yet, there was an edge to his feelings that seemed to be something else entirely; the idea that Dimtri's room was next to his sounded like fact rather than coincidence, a piece of a puzzle slotting in just as it should.

Felix didn't understand. He was positive he'd never met Dimitri in his life, but this... he didn't know. He didn't know if he wanted to think about it too hard.

Dimitri looked at him expectantly, and Felix scrabbled for the right words before he was saved by his father - if his appearance could ever truly be called convenient. He popped his head around the door to the room, a huge smile painted all over it when he spotted Dimitri.

For a moment, Felix thought that maybe he recognised him too, and with his superior old man memory might shed some light on what this strange feeling could be. But he didn't, instead just placing the bags in his own arms down on the floor. Felix winced, somehow knowing it was a bad spot, and a moment later the floorboard creaked slightly. Strange.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, young man, and thank you for your help,” he said with a smile, nodding his head to Dimitri. “I’m Rodrigue.”

Dimitri smiled back. "It's good to meet you too. Are you Felix's father?"

"I am," he replied, a soft chuckle leaving his lips. Felix didn't quite know what was funny, but if Dimitri wasn't bothered then he wasn't going to cause an argument unnecessarily. He and his father did enough of that already. "I'm glad to see you've made a friend already, Felix."

Felix scowled. He met Dimitri  _ literally  _ only a couple of minutes ago, if that. They were no more friends than his father and Dimitri were, and his father should know as much.

Yet, when Felix opened his mouth to say it, he shot a glance at Dimitri and the words died on his lips. He didn't know  _ why,  _ because they definitely weren't friends and Dimitri surely wouldn't be upset if he said so, but his mind filled with the possibility of that gentle smile twisting downwards and he couldn't do it anymore.

Felix decided that whatever this was, he didn't like it. But there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it, so he just watched his father smile smugly at them both, something akin to pride on his face. "Well," he said. "I know when I'm no longer needed. I'll leave the two of you be, if you don't mind?"

As he spoke, he took another step towards Felix, his arms spread wide. Oh, right. A goodbye. People hugged when they said goodbye to their children. Felix pursed his lips together and took a step back. "I'm not a baby anymore," he said, turning his head away from his father before Felix could see the look of disappointment on his face.

His father let out a tiny, almost imperceptible sigh. A shame Felix was already plenty used to detecting his disappointment by now. "I know, son," he said, turning towards the door. "I'll see you soon, hopefully. Remember to call."

"I'll text," he shot back, debating whether it would be too harsh to move closer to the door to try and get him to leave. He had no intention of  _ not  _ calling, but he'd really rather his father left him alone now. Before things got too emotional. "See you."

The door closed with a soft click, his father only looking back once. Felix let out a heavy sigh. "Finally," he said. Unable to collapse onto the unmade bed, he flopped into the desk chair, letting it spin once before he ended up facing Dimitri again. 'Like a compass drawn to the strongest force in the world,' he thought, and then pushed it away immediately. Where had something that embarrassing come from?

Dimitri's expression was thoughtful when he opened his mouth again. "Your father seems like a good person," he said.

If this had been any other stranger making strange, oddly personal comments about his father, Felix would have known how to respond immediately. He'd say 'and yours isn't?' and relish in the strange silence that always followed.

But he didn't do that. Somehow, he knew not to. "He's alright, I suppose," he said instead, his fingers tapping a frantic pattern against the still-bare desk to his left. He hoped Dimitri wouldn't say any more.

"Either way, he's gone now," Dimitri said, "and you have quite a few bags." Felix knew for a fact that he didn't have that many - he remembered seeing pictures of people with whole cars full of luggage when moving away from home for the first time. He didn't want to say that, though. "Would you like a hand in unpacking them all?"

In his heart, Felix knew he should send Dimitri away. There was a prickling all over his body and an irritation building in his chest that told him that what he needed right now was to be alone. But at the same time, he didn't want Dimitri to leave. Even thinking about it produced a tiny tug in his chest that he couldn't mistake as anything else.

While he weighed it up, Dimitri kept looking at him, a small smile on his face. He wasn't demanding an answer, and Felix somehow knew that he wouldn't mind if he declined, and yet...

"Sure," he said, just about managing to get the words out through gritted teeth. "You can stay, so long as you help." Dimitri's bright smile was worth it, and he immediately moved to unzip one of Felix's bags.

It had barely been a minute before Dimitri let out a noise of delighted surprise. "Oh, this is very nice!" Dimitri held a sword replica up to the light coming through the dorm window. "Very well made. Is this a model of the Sword of Moralta?"

Felix almost lunged forwards, knocking the item out of his hands. He hated it when people touched his things, and yet... the irritation that felt so  _ habitual  _ when it came to anyone else just didn't surface with Dimitri. "Yeah," he said, and Dimitri's face lit up in a smile. Felix's own expression followed.

He didn't like it. Normally he hated strangers. He couldn't stand talking to people he didn't know, and overly friendly people were quite possibly the bane of his existence. But Dimitri was different, and Felix had no clue why.

Dimitri kept talking as they worked through all of the belongings in Felix's bags, moving them into chests of drawers and the single, tiny cupboard by the door. Dimitri stuck around even after everything was put away, talking about everything under the sun. He was... pleasant to talk to, and Felix didn't even mind when the conversation took a turn he didn't really want it to.

"Honestly, I'm very glad for this encounter," Dimitri said. "I will admit that I was afraid for the last few days. I'm not a particularly outgoing person, a lot of the time, and when the first few days seemed so lonely, I thought..."

"I worried a lot before coming too," Felix said. He never knew what to do when someone opened their heart to him, but with Dimitri he at least felt like he wouldn't fuck it up. He didn't know why.

Dimitri smiled. "I feel like things are going to be alright now," he said. "Your presence puts me at ease."

A blush crept onto Felix's face, and he averted his eyes. "Okay," he said. Dimitri didn't say anything, and  _ then  _ Felix realised he might have said the wrong thing. Just when he'd been so confident a moment before, damn it.

"You too," he managed, tearing his gaze from his feet and back to Dimitri's face. "Thanks."

Dimitri's smile was even brighter this time. It made Felix feel a little warm, like he couldn't escape Dimitri's gaze. He looked over to the window, hoping to open it as an escape from whatever  _ this  _ was, but it was already open. Ugh.

Felix grimaced. "I'm tired," he said. He didn't want to ask Dimitri to leave, but... his eyelids were heavy, and an irritation that always came with tiredness prickled at the back of his neck. It wouldn't be long before the fatigue overwhelmed the strange comfort he felt alongside Dimitri.

"Of course," Dimitri said, moving to leave immediately. "My apologies for staying so long."

Felix shrugged. "I'll see you tomorrow." It wasn't a question, nor a farewell - just a fact. They hadn't known each other for long, but Felix could feel sure of it.

The floorboard creaked just the same as before, and Dimitri turned in the doorway, silhouetted by the light of the hall. "Goodnight, Felix."

His voice was soft, light, and full of unimaginable tenderness. It hit Felix like a kick in the ribs, and he let out a soft gasp. "Dimitri."

Dimitri cocked his head. "Is something- oh."

Felix nodded, trying to keep his heart rate steady against the onslaught of memories. A childhood together, teenage years of tense silence, a year of dancing around each other, five years of hell,  _ everything. _

Dimitri closed the door once more, drawing close. He hesitated for only a moment, waiting for Felix to stand, draw closer. When he did, Dimitri's arms encircled him tightly, pulling Felix close to his chest in an embrace Felix had waited a millenia to feel once more. "Felix."

"I told you," Felix whispered. "I promised."

Dimitri's grip didn't loosen. "That I would not have to bear eternity without you at my side..." He let out a heavy, satisfied sigh. "Thank you, Felix. For keeping your word."

The bed of Felix's dormitory was far smaller than the one they shared so many centuries ago, but he couldn't bring himself to care. With how tightly they tangled themselves up together that night, he didn't even think he  _ could  _ extricate himself from Dimitri's arms.

Maybe yesterday, this morning, even this afternoon, Felix would have laughed if someone told him that there was an individual out there who fitted next to him like they were two halves of a whole. Tucked against Dimitri’s chest, listening to the soft sound of his breathing as he drifted off to sleep, he knew it to be truer than anything else.

**Author's Note:**

> Ty for reading! If you enjoyed, I'd super appreciate a comment/kudos :) I also have a twitter @samariumwriting where I talk about fic, amongst other things


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